The present invention relates to a value information management system and its method and, more particularly, to a value information management system and its method which manage the value information of a product or service itself which is purchased by a purchaser through a network such as the Internet and make the information exchangeable.
Recently, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2002-259879 (reference 1) and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-132272 (reference 2), electronic commerce, i.e., so-called Internet commerce, using a network such as the Internet has been realized. According to net shopping as a form of Internet commerce, a user connects a terminal connected to a network to a net shopping site by communication using the network, and purchases a product or service. After the purchase, there is a time until the product is delivered or the service is received before the product or service is actually provided for the purchaser. During this period, the value of the product or service purchased by the purchaser is locked in the network from the viewpoint of the purchaser. That is, the purchaser cannot separate the value from the network and freely carry it with him/her.
When, for example, the user of a cellular phone terminal purchases a service (a ticket for a concert) by net shopping, the purchased service information (value) is stored in the memory in the cellular phone terminal. If the purchaser cannot receive the service (cannot go to the concert) on the day when the service should be provided (on the day of the concert), he/she needs to provide the purchased service for a substitute (to let a substitute go to the concert). In this case, however, the substitute needs to have a terminal capable of performing value exchange with the cellular phone terminal owned by the purchaser by wireless communication (infrared communication, wireless LAN, Bluetooth, or the like); otherwise, the purchaser cannot let the substitute receive the service. There is also a method of making the substitute bring the cellular phone terminal of the purchaser with him/her to the concert hall. However, such a method is ethically inappropriate in consideration of the application purpose and social character of cellular phones.
As described above, in conventional net shopping, since all purchased information is locked in the network, a purchaser cannot carry a purchased value itself with him/her or transfer the value to someone else before the value is converted into the actually purchased product or service.